“Oh my goodness, look at you!” I cooed, running my hands down the dog’s silky fur. “You smell so much better. Yes, you do.” I glanced up at Hudson, a smile still on my face. “You got her groomed?”
“Lilah and Caleb did. Much as he loved how she smelled, it was time.”
Caleb simply lifted his eyes to Hudson as he stuffed the last bit of leaves into a yard bag. Something must’ve passed in the silence between them because suddenly Hudson laughed as Caleb’s lips quirked up on the side.
“Well, whoever did it, thank you. My clothes even started to smell like her nastiness.” I stood, cradling the dog to my chest. “Did you make it out to the vet today?”
That’d been one of the texts he’d sent—that he’d intended to see if she was microchipped so we could find her owners.
“Yeah.” He propped his hands on his hips and sighed. “Nothing.”
I frowned down at CB, my stomach knotting at the thought of Hudson dropping her off at the shelter. I nuzzled the dog and asked into her fur, “What’re you gonna do?”
He was quiet for so long, I lifted my eyes from CB and met his gaze. Staring at me, he shook his head. “That’s the million-dollar question.”
“You need anything else before I head out, sir?” Caleb asked, brushing his hands together.
Hudson expelled a deep, exasperated breath and shot Caleb a look out of the corner of his eye. “What’d I tell you about that?”
Caleb shrugged. “That a no?”
“That’s a no.” Hudson clapped him on the back. “Thanks for your help today. And don’t worry about anything at the cabin. You’ve done enough work out there without me. Just relax tonight.”
An emotion passed over Caleb’s face that was there and gone before I could decipher it. “It’s not a problem. See you later, boss.”
“That’s not any better,” Hudson called after him.
With a barely there smile, Caleb said, “Bye, Mackenna.”
I jolted over the use of my full name, not used to hearing it when I wasn’t in trouble with my momma. But then it suddenly clicked. The poor guy probably had no idea what to call me since Hudson called me Kenna but everyone else called me Mac.
“Bye.” I waved to him as he got into Lilah’s car and drove off, before turning my attention to Hudson. “You could tell the poor guy to call me Mac.”
“Why would I do that when it’s so fun to watch him fumble?”
I shook my head and rolled my eyes. “What’s all this?”
“All what?” he asked as he held my side door open for me.
“All—” I cut myself off, my eyes narrowing as I stepped into my kitchen.
It smelled like peaches and fresh-baked deliciousness, and my mouth watered. On my counter sat nine pies. I spun around to face Hudson, cocking an eyebrow.
“Allthis,” I said, gesturing to my counter and then to the front window where I could still see the ladder propped against the house.
He shrugged and set my bag down before plucking CB from my hands and depositing her on the floor. The tiny fur ball ran straight to a small bed Hudson must’ve picked up today and walked round and round in a circle until she found the perfect resting spot and settled in. “Had some free time today.”
“Uh-huh. In between the vet and picking up CB a bed and workin’ on the cabin. You had time to just whip up nine pies and clean out my gutters and—” I spun in a circle before facing him again and narrowing my eyes. “And what’s this I heard about me being the buzz around town for workin’ so hard? You have anything to do with that?”
“First of all, you and I already did the piecrusts, and I had commercial means to help with the rest. Momma and Lilah closed The Sweet Shop for a few days while Nash finishes up. Bakin’ nine pies in a professional kitchen doesn’t take too long.”
“And the gutters?”
He shrugged and reached for me, pulling me by the belt loop into the space between his legs. “You mentioned it a while back, and I wasn’t busy.”
I scoffed, because his version of not busy was certainly different from mine. “You’ve been nothing but busy all day! You didn’t have to?—”
He cut off my words with his lips, and as much as I needed to start hardening myself to this pull between us, I couldn’t stop from melting into his body.
